


Nobody Else

by RAGDOLLE



Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-13 08:34:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12980217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RAGDOLLE/pseuds/RAGDOLLE
Summary: Sayori meets Yuri and later, Natsuki and Monika, in her 11th grade year. She's never had any long-lasting friends before this, but she has a feeling things will change very soon for her; maybe in a way she didn't expect.





	1. Ch.1

**Author's Note:**

> im just writing this for fun and because of the tragic lack of sayori x yuri

The day after the English exam, Sayori showed up tired and drained. Her usual unkempt appearance seemed even messier. She trudged into the classroom, carrying her backpack on one shoulder and hugging her cheap school-issued laptop to her chest in the other arm. To her surprise, the class had been set up differently than usual: there were name cards at 3 tables, forming 3 different groups of people. Cautiously, she slipped into her assigned seat and gazed around tiredly. She felt.. very out of it today. Hopefully, she could get through this last class and go home, maybe sleep some or play some cute games on her phone. Distracted in her thoughts, she jolted slightly when her group had arrived and the teacher let out a loud, lively, "Good afternoon, everyone!" All attention refocused onto the teacher.

"As you can probably tell, we're doing something different from here on out. We already took our end-of-course, so we have more time to do things in a less strict way!" Sayori looked around at her group. There was a boy she had vaguely known- someone who she judged as giving her weird vibes but nothing too much, just another teenage boy with too-short greasy hair and coke bottle glasses. Their group was … the smallest, it seemed. There was another name tag beside her, but the girl hadn't shown up yet… Yuri. Sayori looked at the name tag before jumping in surprise once again as the door opened quickly, just as the bell rang. A tall girl with long purple hair rushed in, looking obviously flustered and disheveled. "S-sorry I'm late!" She spoke too fast, sliding into the seat beside Sayori. As she did so, she jostled Sayori's shoulder and then flinched back, before apologizing to her too. Sayori smiled her usual bright smile, and simply said, "It's okay!" The other girl, who must've been Yuri, smiled back slightly, bowing her head a little in embarrassment. She tried to mumble out a thanks, but could hardly speak. Then, the two of them went quiet and turned to face the teacher. He went on to explain they would be spending half the class every day reading out loud in their groups together, so they could speed up finishing the book that he had assigned. Sayori was tired, and slightly dreading this, because of her exhaustion and the fear that she'd slur her words together and get made fun of, but it could be fun… Maybe it was what she needed to make today seem less dreary?

The group of three looked between each other awkwardly. Sayori broke the silence with a nervous giggle, looking back and forth between the boy and Yuri. "Uhh… So, I guess I'll go first?" She said, the sentence coming out more like a question. The guy looked up, and then said, "I can go if you don't want to." Sayori nodded. "Thank you, er… Haha, I don't remember your name actually…" "James." He said shortly. Soon, he began reading out loud. His voice was monotone, hard to listen to because of the abrupt stops and starts of his words. Sayori found herself reading much faster than he could read. She kept unintentionally stealing glances at Yuri, who looked focused and did not notice Sayori looking at her. They were each reading a paragraph at at time. Once James had finished, Sayori looked up. She looked over at Yuri, and asked, "Do you want to go next or should I?" Yuri simply shook her head 'yes', and began reading out loud. At first, her voice was quiet and shaky, but as she went on, it got much smoother and Sayori found herself somewhat entranced. She looked at the other girl, who wore a focused, calm look that seemed to contrast with what Sayori had seen of her personality so far. Even though Sayori had just met her, she had to admire that quality about her, and after all, she was happy that she read at a faster pace than the previous group member. Once Sayori's turn had come, she read well enough, trying to avoid stuttering and slurring her words together. Truth be told, it was hard for her to read out loud because she would go too fast and her eyes would blur the lines together. One she finished reading her paragraph, she looked around at the other two to gauge their reaction. Yuri gave her an encouraging smile and nod, while James looked rather indifferent. The three continued their reading until time was called for the reading portion of class. 

After this part, every student opened their cheap, school-issued laptops. They were to work on their presentations for the remainder of the class. This was rather boring, to Sayori at least, since she had already finished her slides presentation. She played around with effects for the rest of the class period, staring at the minutes as they ticked by. The bell rang and she couldn't have been more ready to leave. The day had dragged on, and she couldn't wait to get home and relax. On the way out of the door, she bumped Yuri a little roughly. "Ah," Yuri gasped, nearly dropping the books she carried in her arms. "Sorry…" She said, nearly too quiet for Sayori to hear. Sayori immediately began apologizing profusely, asking her if she was okay, but she ended up scaring Yuri off, basically. "Um- I'm, I'm okay. Thank you for- for asking… I.. I have to go, sorry." She ran off, and Sayori stared after her, feeling like a big idiot. She really did need to tone down her personality sometimes, she felt. Ah, well. Nothing could be done about it now. 

The next day, surprisingly, Yuri looked up from her seat when Sayori entered the room. She had been on time today, unlike yesterday, and her desk looked very neat. "Hi, Yuri!" Sayori said cheerfully, happy that she hadn't freaked out Yuri yesterday. "Hello- Uh… Um…" Flustered, Yuri began nervously tugging at her sleeves. "I never… I don't think I caught your name." She said, half sounding like a question. "Oh! I'm Sayori!" Sayori said without hesitation. She put her belongings down on her desk and dropped her backpack on the floor. Today had been much less tiring on her, since her exams were all over. It was nearly the end of the semester, and although Sayori was intrigued by Yuri and wanted to know more about her, she doubted there would be enough time for this. She doubted Yuri would even remember her after this semester ended, or that she even thought of her after she left the English classroom at the end of the school day. After all, Sayori had always been a sort of background character, even in her own life. 

Once the class began, they followed the same routine as the day before. Once again, Sayori found herself entranced by the way Yuri's voice changed from staccato stammering to a smooth rich tone when she began reading her pages. In fact, today she had become so into it that she ended up leaving the group hanging in silence after it was her turn. James looked at her, and then cleared his throat. She jumped a little and looked at the two of them. James had been looking at her with a slight confused expression, while Yuri just smiled sheepishly at her. Without thinking, Sayori said, "Ah, sorry! I zoned out, Yuri just reads really good." James smiled and Yuri looked at Sayori in surprise, her face turning red. "Um- Thank you, Sayori…" She said, covering her mouth with a sleeve-covered hand. Then, the group continued their reading, Sayori paying special attention as to not zone out like that again.


	2. Ch.2

The next day followed the same routine, but the Thursday of that week had changed. The groups were being switched around a little. Sayori and Yuri were still grouped together, but three other people would be coming in. While Sayori didn't really mind all that much, Yuri looked very uncomfortable. She was fidgeting in her seat and she didn't greet Sayori today as she had for the past three days, simply holding up her hand in greeting with a slight half-smile. She had her laptop opened and was typing away as fast as she could. Sayori looked around the makeshift table made of desks and decided maybe it would be best if she sat beside Yuri today, instead of across from her. She slid into the seat directly beside her and put her things down. Yuri jumped a little and looked at the pink haired girl looking curiously at her. "Um… Are you alright? You seem a little stressed." Sayori asked. The taller girl simply hunched her shoulders a little more and glanced at Sayori, before barely mumbling, "Yes, just a little nervous around groups." Her tone was tense, and Sayori noticed she was shivering slightly. Well, it wouldn't be too farfetched to assume that was the truth, and this group was considerably larger than the one yesterday, so maybe it was the whole truth. But something still felt off to Sayori.

She decided to simply let it go, because sometimes her 'gut instinct' was just paranoia or an overactive imagination. Besides, she didn't know Yuri all that well, so who was she to ask her if she was 'sure' or something? That would be beyond rude, and Sayori didn't want to be that kind of girl. Once the other people of the group came to the table, she got nervous herself. They were talking bad about a bunch of other girls in the class, and guys they didn't and did like, and all sorts of high school drama that Sayori was careful to avoid. She really couldn't handle that; she tended to be unstable as is, she really didn't need a bunch of pissed off teenagers making fun of her too. Once they began the reading circle, the other people constantly spoke over each other. Sayori could hardly even hear Yuri over the loud chattering beside her. Her head started to hurt and she couldn't pay attention. It was just too much work to listen to everyone else reading and try to understand what they were saying or where they were at when everyone else couldn't shut their mouths. She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard two of the people in the group saying rude things to Yuri. She could hardly speak up to defend herself, her voice simply came out as a squeak or a gasp. 

Sayori looked around the table and felt herself getting warm with anger. "Hey! Stop that, if you're not going to listen to her can't you just talk to each other instead of being assholes?" She snapped, standing up and walking behind Yuri's chair. The other people laughed and started taunting Sayori, asking her if she wanted to fight them. She simply shook her head. "I don't have time for this." She was aware she wasn't really acting like herself, and she was surprised with how she acted. Sayori took Yuri's arm, gently as if not to scare her, and asked, "Do you want to see if we can move somewhere else on our own?" Yuri simply nodded in a 'yes' motion and Sayori walked off with her to the teacher. She explained the situation to him, and he allowed the pair to work by themselves. The whole time, Sayori noticed, she hadn't bothered to let go of the other girl's arm. She looked over at Yuri to see how she reacted, and she was simply glancing between the floor and Sayori's hand. She let go of Yuri's arm and smiled at her. "Sorry for losing my temper a little bit back there, I just don't like seeing people being rude like that…" "Ah- I…" Yuri trailed off and simply nodded. "Thank you." Her voice still barely reached above a whisper. "If you don't feel up to reading right now, I understand. We can just sit here, or-" Sayori stopped when she saw Yuri shake her head 'no'. "It's okay, I'll be fine now that we're away from them." So with that, the two of them continued and ended up finishing the assigned chapters. Yuri looked up at Sayori, as if she wanted to say something. "Um…" She started, then seemingly decided against it. She glanced at the floor and bounced her leg anxiously. Sayori looked at her and tilted her head. "Yeah?"

"Do you… want to continue anyway? I know we finished the assignment, but um… I… Really like this, and I like…" She trailed off again, then covered her mouth again, looking somewhat embarrassed. Sayori tilted her head a little again, confused. "Yeah, we can…" So, until time was called, they continued reading together, sitting alone with their desks close. To be honest, even though Sayori didn't care much for the book assigned, somehow she managed to pay attention while with Yuri. Even though it didn't interest her much by herself, Yuri managed to make this interesting and entrancing for her. Time was called, and they both took out their laptops and began typing. Sayori thought for awhile. Thought about ways to contact Yuri over winter break, because truth be told, she really liked her. She didn't know how she felt in words, but she knew it was a feeling she'd like to hold onto. Not only because she hadn't had friends in a while, but maybe because Yuri was just a mysterious person on her own, and Sayori wanted to be the person to get close to her, to learn more about her. Maybe in time, they could be closer than any two people had ever been, and maybe they could be… 

Shit. She had let her thoughts wander too far again. After all, she only knew Yuri for three days, how could she be thinking all of these things? All of these sentimental things, things she had no business thinking. Well, when she thought of things like that it sounded… Not friendly. Not something that just two friends can feel… Right? No. She couldn't think like that. This had to just be her boredom making her think these things. Or maybe another passing interest in someone who would forget her in a week. Yuri looked up from her screen. "Um, Sayori…" She asked quietly. "Could I see what your presentation looks like? I'd like to make sure I'm doing mine right." Sayori nodded. "Yeah, sure." She pulled up her presentation. Yuri got closer to her, nearly putting her head right on Sayori's shoulder. While clicking through her presentation, Sayori remained preoccupied with unanswered questions about this girl. Something about her just seemed to pull her in. There had to be layers to her personality. She could… sense it. Yeah. 

The bell rang suddenly, startling both of them. Yuri began packing her things, and so did Sayori. On the way out, they began going separate ways down the hall. "Bye, Sayo-" "W-wait! Um… What lunch block do you have?" Sayori blurted out, surprising both herself and Yuri. Once again, she did something she didn't expect or plan. Well, she never really was the planning type anyway. Yuri stuttered out, "Uhh… Third… Third?" Sayori nodded in response. She was pleased with this - that was her lunch block, and she never had anyone to eat with except some girls from her classes who never really liked her, and thought her humor was stupid and her voice was too loud. "Cool! Me too. I'll… Uh, I'll see you there tomorrow?" Yuri nodded, and the two went their separate ways. The whole bus ride home, Sayori could only think about how tomorrow was going to go. Finally, her life seemed to have picked up some - up until now, it had been a routine where every day blurred together, nothing new, same old same old. Maybe this was the change she had been yearning for.


	3. Ch.3

Sayori went through her day the same as every other day, only there was an extra spring in her step. Maybe for once, she would actually be able to keep a consistent friendship? She didn't want to get her hopes up, but she really couldn't stop thinking of hanging out with Yuri. She didn't call Sayori stupid for not understanding things, or mispronouncing words, or zoning out, or any of her usual hang-ups. She was just very kind, and to Sayori, mysterious, in an alluring way. Sayori found herself fixing her hair and making sure she looked presentable before she left, which surprised her a little. Motivation and energy never came easy to her: her room looked as if a tornado had blown through it, her bed was always unmade, she could hardly manage to eat and drink, and she spent her breaks fading in and out of consciousness. She would sleep through the day and night, accompanied only by her phone screen, old sitcom reruns, and takeout boxes that lay around her. Hell if she ever found time to fix herself up for her daily school routine. But somehow, she found herself in an upbeat mood, somehow not exhausted and ready to take on the day for once. 

As usual, her first three classes were uneventful. She zoned out half the period, only looking up to get the teachers to believe she was paying attention so she could avoid being embarrassed by them. As soon as the third bell rang, she was practically running out of the class. Instead of her usual route to go hide in the bathroom during lunch, she began searching for Yuri in the lunchroom. She didn't see her, so she went through the line and looked again. Finally, Sayori spotted her purple-haired friend sitting at a table with two other girls. She rushed over, carrying her tray and her heavy bag over. Yuri scooched her chair away from one of the other girls to make room for Sayori. The table had other chairs, but Yuri seemed to want Sayori to sit beside her, and Sayori did so happily. The other two girls looked at Sayori curiously, then to Yuri. Yuri then coughed, and said, "This is Sayori, she's my friend from English class…" Then she paused, and looked nervously at Sayori. "Um, I can… We are friends, r-right?" She asked, seemingly apologetic. Sayori smiled at her and nodded. "Yeah! Definitely." 

Yuri looked at the other two girls, then back at Sayori. "Uhm, this is Natsuki and Monika…" Yuri said, motioning first at the smaller, pink-haired girl, then at the other, taller girl. Natsuki, the short pink-haired girl, greeted Sayori first. "Hey, welcome to the table!" She said, giving a big grin. Monika then politely smiled, only saying, "Hi, Sayori." Sayori smiled back and greeted both of them warmly. The four of them continued talking and laughing for the remainder of the lunch block. Sayori finally felt as if she had people at school she could talk to, without worrying about them disliking her or having to deal with high school drama. Sure, she had only been around the whole group for a day, but it already felt that way to her, and she was never one to go against her gut instinct. 

Yuri and Sayori walked to English together. On the way, Sayori got distracted by her own thoughts that she barely noticed Yuri dragging behind. Sayori walked back to her, giving her a concerned look. "Are you alright?" Sayori asked uncertainly. Maybe she was just tired, or had something on her mind, and she didn't want Sayori to bother her over it? Yuri looked up at Sayori, then glanced down at the floor. "Ah… Yeah, I just don't really feel like going in there after yesterday…" Before Sayori could respond, Yuri quickly added, "Not- Not that I didn't enjoy reading with you, Sayori! I mean what happened before that! Ahhh… I'm really sorry if I sounded like I was talking about you, I really need to think before I say stuff…" She rambled on. Sayori put her hand on Yuri's shoulder. "No, it's fine! I didn't think you meant anything like that, don't be so hard on yourself! And I'm sure no one will do anything to you, and if they do, I'm gonna be right here for you!" Sayori declared with a smile. Yuri looked at Sayori again, only this time she was smiling back. "Thank… Thank you, Sayori." She said softly. 

Sayori and Yuri were allowed to work together again, however the teacher had told the class that the quiz would be tomorrow, so the groups would shift again. Yuri looked nervous about this, as expected. Sayori looked up at Yuri and pat her shoulder. "It'll be okay, I'm sure your group won't be that bad!" Yuri simply nodded, and swallowed audibly. "I hope…" Without thinking, Sayori wrapped her arms around the other girl in a tight hug. "I'm sure of it! You'll be fine, trust me!" Yuri got very stiff, and then slowly returned her hug. "Nn- Thank you, Sayori…" She murmured. Sayori let go of her and smiled again. Yuri was blushing again, messing with her sweater sleeves and smiling slightly. Sayori couldn't help but think that she was really, really… cute. She didn't really see any issue with telling Yuri this outright, especially since she gave off the vibe that she had low confidence, at least to Sayori. "Hey Yuri?" Sayori said cheerfully. Yuri looked up. "Yeah?" "I think you're super cute." She said with a smile. Yuri jumped a little and tugged her sleeves down. Her face was deep red. She tried to stammer out a reply but simply messed with her hands again and looked down. Sayori smiled at her again, then gave her a confused look. "What's wrong?" "Uh- N-nothing! Nothing." She looked very nervous, and Sayori started doubting herself once again. Was she being over-the-top again? She didn't really think that would make sense; she was just giving her friend a compliment! 

Yuri looked away for a few minutes, recovering from her embarrassment. Sayori clicked away on her laptop, since time had been called during this fiasco, thinking absently to herself. Yuri looked up and tugged on Sayori's sleeve gingerly. Sayori stopped typing mid-sentence and glanced at the taller girl. Yuri, not meeting her eyes, mumbled, "Um.. you are too." Sayori, being kind of absent minded as usual, looked at her in confusion. "I'm what?" She asked, then it seemed to click for her as soon as the question left her lips. "Oh! Thank… Thank you, Yuri!!!" She exclaimed. Sayori thought nothing of the flutter in her chest, or the way her cheeks got a little warmer. After all, aren't you supposed to be happy to hear your friends think of you in such a nice way? Yuri looked down again, typing on her own laptop, but stealing glances at Sayori every now and then. Sayori, oblivious, kept typing away happily. She was clearly in an even better mood now, humming to herself as she continued her classwork. Yuri scratched at her sleeve again. The two continued working in silence this way for the remaining class time. As soon as the bell rang and the girls had packed up, Sayori started for the door. It was Friday, after all, and she couldn't wait to go home and… well, do nothing. At least she could rest and sleep as much as she wanted, and she didn't have to fix up her appearance anymore. She yet again felt a pull on her sleeve on her way down the hall. She whirled around, coming face to face with Yuri.

"Oh- Hi, Yuri!" She said, pulling the purple-haired girl out of the center of the hallway and towards the commons area with her. Once they got to Sayori's locker, Yuri glanced at Sayori again. "Uh- Do we have each other's numbers yet?" She asked, though she knew that they never exchanged numbers. Sayori blinked in surprise. "Huh… I guess we haven't! Here, I'll write mine down for you. Uhh, do you have any paper?" She asked. Yuri shook her head regretfully. "No, I'm sorry… It's all in my locker, but that's all the way on the other side of the school, unless you want to- Ah," She stopped mid sentence when Sayori took her hand suddenly. She took out a pen and scribbled it on her own arm to make sure the ink was flowing, and then wrote down her number on the back of Yuri's hand, complete with a smiley face. "Don't worry, it comes off with hand sanitizer! I draw on myself all the time when I get bored in class." Sayori smiled brightly and then looked at the doors. "Well, I'm gonna go so I don't miss my bus! Byebye Yuri!" She hugged the other girl again, no hesitation this time. Yuri hugged her back, closing her eyes and leaning her head on Sayori's shoulder. Sayori skipped off to her bus, leaving Yuri standing still flustered in the commons area, looking at the scrawled number on the back of her hand.


	4. Ch.4

Friday night and Saturday had gone by the usual way for Sayori, save for one change: her and Yuri had been texting all day, nearly every hour that Sayori could keep her eyes open. Yuri's replies came in seconds, which pleased Sayori. It made her feel like Yuri wanted to talk to her. She was much better at speaking over text. Sayori found that Yuri was actually very laid-back and fun to talk to, in a way she never really showed in person. She felt … happy for once. She always put up an optimistic front and faked that she meant something, but up until this point, it didn't ever feel like her life made a difference. She felt as if she had existed in deep space, just floating out there with nothing to grasp onto, not a single soul or cause to continue on. This feeling was nice. 

The two had exchanged information about themselves, and Sayori was interested to learn more about Yuri. For example, she was very into horror films and books, that Yuri was a Sagittarius, and that she actually lived fairly close: within walking distance, actually. Sayori was sitting in bed on Saturday night, her dinner of packaged noodles sitting beside her in bed, scrolling through her nearly dead social media feeds, when she heard a ring at the door. She was immediately on guard. Despite being seen as airheaded by most, she knew how to protect herself since she mainly lived alone these days. She lived with a single mom who was never home, save for maybe on Sundays for a few hours. She owned several things for self defense, such as a pocket knife and a flashlight taser. She grabbed the pocket knife and walked down the stairs. "Who's there?" She asked cautiously. After all, it was around 10pm and her neighbors never spoke to her much. "Yuri." The voice behind the door called out. Sayori blinked in surprise, snapping the knife shut and opening the door. "Hi, Yuri! What are you doing over?" She asked, not in a rude way, but simply in surprise. She wasn't expecting Yuri to come visiting this late, especially with no notice. "Oh- I just remembered that, an hour or so ago when we were talking you said you lived here and we were talking about how close we lived to each other… Um… Is this creepy? I can leave if you want me to, I'm sorry-" Sayori shushed the other girl and motioned for her to come inside. "It's cold out there, come in!" She pulled Yuri into her house, shutting the door behind her. "Do you want me to make you any food? ...Uh, I don't really have much aside from noodles and some junk food, but… If you're okay with that?" Sayori asked, walking into the kitchen and flicking the light on. She put her pocket knife down on the counter and focused on climbing to reach the top of the fridge where her mother had left the other packages of noodles. She never quite understood why her mom decided to use that spot to put the food. Her mom knew that Sayori was much shorter than her, and would have to go through the hassle of climbing the countertop every time she got a little hungry.

She hopped down holding a packet of noodles. She turned to face Yuri, who had opened up her iridescent pocket knife and was looking at the blade in deep fascination. She tilted the knife slowly, watching how the light reflected off the shiny metal. "Ah… Yuri?" Yuri gasped and dropped the knife. It clattered to the ground. She looked at Sayori, mortified. "I'm- I'm sorry, was that… That was weird, wasn't it? Just taking your knife like that and… Gosh." She knelt down and picked up the knife, snapping it shut and putting it back on the counter shamefully. "No, not weird or anything, don't worry! Do you want any food?" She asked, holding up the packet of cheap noodles. "No, I had dinner already, but thank you for the offer." She said politely. Sayori nodded and placed the noodles on the counter. Sayori and Yuri walked to the living room together and sat down on the couch. Sayori stretched her legs out and grabbed the remote to the television. She switched it on and looked up at Yuri, leaning against the taller girl and smiling her usual bright grin. "So, you missed me so much you had to come see me, hm?" She joked. Yuri glanced down at her. "Um… yeah." She said quietly, then rushed to add in, "Not like- Not in a creepy way, I just wanted to see you because I wasn't doing anything and you said you weren't either and I like … I uh…" She paused. "I like hanging out with you a lot." She mumbled. Sayori briskly replied, "I like hanging out with you too! You're like… The first real friend I've met, to be honest. I guess that makes me weird!" She said with a slight laugh. Yuri tilted her head a little. "I don't know how… You're a really good friend, I really like you, I don't get why anyone wouldn't." She said, then stopped and blushed. "Um- Wait… We're really like… We are friends right?" Yuri asked anxiously. Sayori laughed. "Of course! We wouldn't be hanging out together if we weren't, silly." She clicked through the channels on the television and settled on reruns of comedies. 

The two girls sat in silence aside from the occasional laugh or comment about how stupid the show was. Yuri seemed to be trying to remain stoic, but every so often she would laugh at something Sayori said or smile at her when she wasn't looking. After an hour, Sayori yawned and leaned against Yuri again. "How are you gonna get home?" Sayori asked drowsily. "I'll walk, my house really isn't too far away…" "Yeah, but I don't want you to go alone this late, it's just not safe…" Sayori said, a concerned look on her face. Yuri rubbed the back of her neck and looked at the floor. "Ah… Well, can you just-" "Why don't you spend the night?" Sayori interrupted excitedly. Yuri paused to think and then responded, "But… I didn't bring any of my things over here. I don't even have clothes to sleep in." She motioned to her sweater and jeans. "That's okay, you can borrow some of mine! I'm kind of short, but I usually buy my pajamas in bigger sizes 'cause I like wearing clothes that are too big for me." She explained as she got up. She tugged on Yuri's hand a little. "Come on, let's go get you something." 

The two walked up the stairs into Sayori's room. Sayori dug in her closet and took out several sets of pajamas and showed them to Yuri. Yuri picked out the Halloween set, naturally, black and orange with skull patterns on the pants. Sayori smiled at her. "Edgy, huh?" She said jokingly. Yuri jumped a little. "You really think so?" She asked nervously. "I was kidding, you're not edgy in a bad way or anything!" Sayori comforted. "I'm gonna go out there so you can change, okay?" "Okay…" 

Sayori sat on the floor outside her room, scrolling on her phone. She was mainly just zoning out while she thought of how she was so happy Yuri had decided to come over tonight. Not that she didn't wish she would've told her. She loved spending time with Yuri, of course, but her house looked as if a tornado had blown through it. Her room was really messy, and while she was okay with it, Yuri had always seemed organized and neat. Surely this mess would disgust her, and Sayori would lose the only friend she's ever really had so far, and… 

Before her thoughts could escalate and further, her door opened and Yuri stepped out wearing Sayori's pajamas. Sayori looked at her with bright eyes. "Great! Now you can stay here, right?" Yuri smiled at her and nodded. The two went back down the stairs, and continued to watch late night tv together until Sayori started dozing off. Sayori ended up with her head on Yuri's shoulder, splayed out on the couch and yawning constantly. Her sleepiness rubbed off on Yuri, who absentmindedly wrapped an arm around Sayori and rested the side of her head on top of Sayori's. Sayori didn't object or even really notice, and Yuri was always one to fall asleep rather quickly when she was tired. They both ended up falling asleep on the couch, half sitting up. 

The next morning, Yuri woke up, yawned, and looked around. She gasped and nearly jumped out of her skin when she realized she was holding Sayori while she slept, and… Sayori was holding her too? Yuri jumped when she realized this, jolting Sayori in the process. Sayori yawned and blinked awake, glancing up sleepily at the taller girl who was now nervously fiddling with her hands. "Good morning, Yuri…" Sayori yawned, then stretched and stood up. "Do you wanna go get breakfast and then go home?" Sayori asked Yuri. Silent, Yuri nodded and looked at her hands. "Alright, where do you wanna go?" She asked, still sleepy. She absently toyed with Yuri's long hair, a little amazed at how it still stayed untangled and smooth as it was yesterday. Yuri simply shrugged and made a little 'i don't know' noise. Sayori stretched once more and then said, "Okay, well, I'm gonna go shower and get dressed, so can you think about it while I'm gone?" Yuri nodded again, an apologetic glint in her eye. Sayori gave her a friendly smile and walked up the stairs to go shower. Yuri put her head in her hands and let out a loud sigh. God, why did she have to do that? Her nerves made it near impossible for her to say anything aside from weak little sounds. She couldn't help it, but she beat herself up about it anyway. She sighed again, this time trying to relax. Either way, she would try to make the rest of the day less awkward.


	5. ch. 5

Sayori came downstairs after showering. She was still adjusting the bow on her head as she walked to the living room. Yuri stood up and walked over to her. "Ah- I can get that for you." She said softly, gingerly tying the bow on Sayori's head neatly and fixing her hair. Sayori stood still until Yuri had finished, and then smiled big. "Thanks, Yuri! I never really feel like bothering with my hair usually…" Yuri smiled back and sat back down on the couch. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the time. "Hmm.. We can still go get breakfast, it's only 10am." Sayori nodded, and took Yuri's hand. "Alright, let's go! I know somewhere nearby that we can go to." Yuri didn't get up, looking at Sayori and trying to stammer out a reply. "Sayori- I.. I still need to get changed!" She said, looking down at herself. Sayori paused for a moment, and then laughed. "Right! Sorry, I got so excited for today that I forgot!" She let go of Yuri's hand and sat down on the couch, taking out her phone and playing some sort of cat game. "Go get ready, I'll be here when you're ready to go!" Yuri nodded, and rushed up the stairs to get changed.

While Sayori absently played Cat Wheel, she preoccupied herself with thoughts of Yuri. Somehow, even if she wasn't trying, Yuri was always the first thought to pop into her mind. Even before she fell asleep every night for the past week, she just kept thinking of her, thinking of seeing her at school the next day, or texting her when she woke up. She gazed in the direction her purple-haired friend had gone. She closed her eyes and leaned against the couch cushions, letting out a content sigh. Honestly, the girl was becoming the highlight of her day… Every day. She was a little confused, though… Are you supposed to get such a warm, fuzzy feeling thinking of your best friend? Wait- could she even call Yuri her best friend yet? They'd only known each other for a week, yet… She felt as if she'd known Yuri her whole life. She stared at her phone screen blankly. She didn't even feel like playing her phone games right now, or watching TV, or anything else, but sitting here thinking of her friend. She thought about the other two girls, Natsuki and Monika, that she had been hanging out with the rest of the week. She wondered if Yuri ever stayed over their houses, or went out to breakfast with them… Probably, because that's what friends do. 

She snapped out of her thoughts when Yuri came down the stairs, wearing a large hoodie that Sayori had bought off of the internet a few months ago, and the same sweatpants she came over in. Sayori got up, locking her phone and putting it in her pocket. "Umm, I'm sorry for taking your- your hoodie, I just… I didn't… I left my clothes at home because I didn't think I'd be staying overnight, but I hope it's okay for me to borrow this, I'll give it back after-" Sayori shushed her, walking over to her and adjusting the uneven strings on the hoodie. "It's fine! I think you look really pretty in it anyway." She said in her usual upbeat tone. Yuri glanced at the floor, blushing slightly. "Thanks…" "Well, are you ready? I'll show you where the place is." Yuri nodded, and Sayori took her hand again and started walking fast to the door. 

Sayori stepped out, shivering immediately. "Bleh… It's really cold today." She complained, pulling her hood up and then taking Yuri's hand again. "Anyway, the place is around the corner." She started walking a little slower so she could walk beside her friend. Sayori looked up at Yuri and smiled brightly. "Thank you for coming out with me today…" "It's my pleasure." Yuri replied with that charming half smile of hers. Sayori and Yuri walked to the small coffee shop around the corner. Sayori rushed to the door and opened it for Yuri. Yuri smiled politely and thanked her, and the two walked in together. They got to the counter, and Sayori began ordering her food and usual drink. She looked at Yuri. "What do you want?" Yuri mumbled something inaudible, and Sayori gave her a confused look. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you…" Yuri shuffled awkwardly, and then looked away when she noticed the person at the counter giving her a strange look. Sayori tried to save the situation by telling the person to just get her order, and that Yuri would order later on. The two walked to a table near the window and sat down. Yuri put her head in her hands and went completely quiet. Sayori felt bad, and reached across the small table to pat her on the shoulder. "What's wrong? Are you alright?" Yuri sighed and took her hands away from her face. "I'm sorry, I must've embarrassed you up there… Sometimes I just.. can't speak and it's really inconvenient, but I can't really help it…" Both were quiet, Sayori mainly because she was thinking of what she could say to comfort her friend. Yuri continued, "I know you probably think I'm weird now…" Sayori made a little surprised noise, looking at the taller girl sadly. "No! I don't think you're weird at all!" She paused to think, and then smiled at Yuri again. "I think you're really great! I'll order for you, just tell me what you want. You're not embarrassing at all." Yuri looked up at Sayori, an unreadable look on her face. "Are… Are you sure?" She asked quietly. Sayori nodded. "Completely sure!" Yuri looked at the table, and then back at Sayori's smiling face. "Well… I really just wanted a latte, I'm not really all that hungry." Sayori nodded. 

The two girls talked and laughed until the server came over to bring Sayori her order. Sayori thanked him, and then asked for a latte. He walked off to go get the second order. Sayori ate fast, and drank almost all of her coffee before the server returned. He put the coffee on the table, and Sayori thanked him again. She slid it over to Yuri and Yuri thanked her for it. They continued chatting and drinking their coffees. Yuri looked at her empty cup and then at Sayori. "Hey… Uhm… Thank you for… Thanks for ordering for me. I really appreciate it." Sayori nodded, hopping out of her seat and taking her plate and the two empty cups to the trash can while Yuri trailed behind. They walked home again, still talking the whole way. Sayori stopped on her porch and turned to face Yuri. "Well… I guess you have to go now, hm?" Sayori said, trying to hide her sadness. Of course she knew Yuri had to go home eventually, but she loved being around her so much. Yuri nodded. "I have a project due tomorrow for one of my classes… Oh! What about your shirt?" She asked, motioning to the hoodie she was wearing. Sayori thought on it for a few seconds, and then cheerfully stated, "You can keep it! I never really wear it and you look really nice in it." She said, and then leaned over to give Yuri a hug. Yuri hesitated and then hugged her back, somewhat tightly. They lingered, and then let go of each other, both with smiles on their faces. "Bye, Yuri!" Sayori said as she turned to go inside. Yuri said back, "Goodbye, Sayori." She closed the door and walked to her room, flopping onto her bed and letting out another long, content sigh. Yeah. Yuri was pretty great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the later than expected reply! i've been going through some personal issues lately, mainly just being depressed and living situation stuff, but i'm on winter break now and i've gotten over some bad writer's block, so expect more regular updates soon!


	6. ch.6

The next day, Sayori woke up surprisingly on time. She reached beside her bed and grabbed her phone, unlocking it and texting a good morning message to Yuri. She yawned and stretched, before lying on her stomach and closing her eyes again. She really, really wished she could just lay in bed like this for just another hour… or two. Or three… Well, at least it was almost the end of the semester, and at least she could see Yuri and her other friends at lunch. Sayori got dressed and haphazardly fixed her ribbon and hair to look semi-presentable. She stopped in front of the mirror and remembered the other day when Yuri fixed her hair for her. A slight smile came to her face, and she sighed happily. Sayori was becoming more and more aware of how much she really liked Yuri. It was a little confusing to her, because she couldn't tell if she still wanted to just be friends or maybe… more than this. She never let the thought cross her mind that one day, she could have a girlfriend, or a boyfriend. If anything, relationships scared her, only because she didn't know if she would be a good girlfriend. She was afraid she would only hurt whoever she dated, or she wouldn't be around as long as they wanted her to be because… Well, enough of that. She didn't want to think like that on a Monday morning, it just made her disdain the thought of going to school even more. Besides, her negative thoughts were exhausting and feeding into them only made them drain her more. She put her earbuds in and walked to the bus stop. 

Once she got on the bus, she sat in the back as she always did. A boy she recognized began making his way over to her. She squinted a little, trying to distinguish him, mainly because her contacts had not fully adjusted yet. The boy sat beside her, and she realized it was James from her English class. "Sayori. Good morning." He said with a stiff smile. She tugged her earbuds out and paused her music. "Good mornin'." She replied. He opened his mouth to speak, but she didn't notice, because she just got a message back from Yuri. 

Although all the message said was 'Good morning, Sayori :~)', Sayori smiled at her phone big and replied with a message along the lines of 'have a great day yuri!' with a bunch of smiling cat emojis. James quirked an eyebrow at her and sighed. "Let me guess, that's Yuri." Not detecting his dejected tone, she replied, "Yep!" and went back to messaging her best friend. He kept staring at her, and it made her feel a little awkward, like maybe he was waiting for her to say something, but she didn't really know what to say. She remained silent and looked at him, pondering what he wanted. "Are you okay?" She blurted out. "Yeah." He responded in his usual flat tone. "Oh. Alright!" She opened up the group chat her, Yuri, Monika, and Natsuki were all in, and told them about the strange occurrence. Monika said it sounded like James was a creep, and Natsuki agreed. Yuri was silent, save for a few "Yuri is typing…" messages that disappeared when she gave up on whatever she was going to say. 

Once at school, Sayori went through her usual routine of being tired and bored in her first two blocks, and then going to lunch and looking around for the usual table her and her friends all sat at. Although she would never admit it, she never could remember things easily, so even though she knew her friends wouldn't suddenly move tables without her knowing, she just couldn't remember its location for the life of her. Yuri waved her over and she rushed to the table. Once Sayori sat down, Monika instantly began asking her questions about what happened on the bus. 

Sayori explained how he kept talking to her, or trying, at least, and she felt really awkward because he kept looking at her. Monika laughed a little bit, and said, "Sayori, I think he has a thing for you." "Wh- Huh?" "You know, like he's got a crush on you." "Oh! Weird." She said, and thought about it. Natsuki glanced up from her tray. "Ew, you could do so much better than him. I mean, I know someone else at this school has a crush on you, and sh-" Monika coughed loudly, interrupting Natsuki, who glared at Monika. Sayori looked at both of them, bewildered. "What? Really? I didn't even think anyone noticed me all that much…" Yuri spoke up for the first time since Sayori had sat down. "Well, I think that is their loss." She said and crossed her arms. Sayori smiled and subconsciously started playing with the bow around her shirt collar. "Thanks…" She said quietly. Monika and Natsuki kept giving each other knowing looks, while Yuri simply stared down at her folded hands resting in her lap. She looked up, cleared her throat a little, took a deep breath, and asked, "Sayori… There's an upcoming dance at this school, and I was just wondering… Would you like to come with me?" Sayori looked up and opened her mouth to reply, when Yuri quickly stammered, "I-I mean- In a friendly way, just… Ah." She went silent and started shaking a little. Sayori tilted her head, pondering it for a few seconds, when she grinned big and said, "Yeah! Of course." She looked at Yuri, her bright blue eyes somehow lighting up even more. The two looked at each other for a moment, sharing a connecting gaze, in which Sayori simply noticed little things about Yuri. How the light reflected from her unique eyes, how she would hide her face and hands with her long hair when she was nervous, and mostly how nice it was to just… Look at her like this. But she knew it would come off odd, so she gazed at the floor and smiled. "When is it?" She asked. "Next week. Me and Monika are going too." Natsuki said. The four girls went back to their usual topics of talking after that, and Monika pulled Sayori aside once the bell rang. Sayori spotted Yuri waiting for her with her bag hugged to her chest, eyes wide with confusion and worry… What was she so concerned about, Sayori wondered? Maybe she didn't want to be late for class, but she didn't want to leave Sayori? The short haired girl looked at Monika. Monika smiled at her and said, "You know, I've never seen Yuri ask someone to do something like that. She's really the kind of person to wait until someone else asks her first. I think she really, really… admires you." Monika said with a hushed tone, like she was discussing an exciting secret. "Wow… I really like her. She's a really great friend." Sayori replied. Monika nodded, and with a wink, said goodbye to Sayori and rushed off to class. Yuri walked quickly over to her friend, scanning her face with a worried, flustered look on her face. "What did Monika want?" "Hehe… Nothiiiiing…" Sayori said in a singsong tone. Yuri made a sort of choked noise, messing with her hair clumsily and blushing. "Did she say anything about- about me?" She asked, barely able to mask her concern. Sayori's teasing tone faded away once she realized Yuri was actually afraid of something. "Yeah, nothing much, though. She just told me she thought you and me were really good friends!" Yuri let out a sigh of relief. Sayori giggled and asked, "What, did you think she told me who you liked or something?" Yuri jumped again, this time looking even more flustered than before. "What? Who- Who said I had feelings for anyone?" She stammered suddenly. Sayori laughed and hugged her friend. "No one, I'm just messing with you…" "Oh. Well, good. I don't really like anyone." She said, and followed it up with an obviously fake laugh. Sayori nudged her playfully. "Sure, you don't." 

Throughout the rest of 4th block, Sayori kept looking over at Yuri, and she kept catching Yuri looking back at her. Their conversation earlier made her feel… Off. Her stomach was in knots, and not in the way they usually were when she thought of Yuri. No matter what, she just felt bad whenever she thought of her best friend having feelings for anyone. Well… Almost anyone. She felt selfish and guilty for her thoughts, but the more she thought of it, the more she realized the only time she could bear the thought was if she imagined the hypothetical lover was her. At this point, she was finally coming to terms with the fact that she liked Yuri much more than she had ever liked anyone else, much more than her old crushes in middle school and freshman year. She had never felt this way about anyone, to be honest. Maybe there was a chance that Yuri felt the same about her, but she couldn't be sure. She never could be sure, because she would be oblivious if she did, and she would be oblivious if she didn't. Sayori was snapped out of her thoughts by that droning voice she recognized as James'. "Hey, Sayori. I don't know if you heard the announcements today, but there's a dance coming up." Sayori looked up from her laptop. "Uh, yeah, I heard about it! I- " "Well, you wanna meet me there?" She paused and looked beside her at Yuri, who was currently staring holes in James' head. She noticed Sayori looking, and quickly turned to face her and smiled. "Uh, me and Yuri were gonna go, actually-" "Okay, so you'll be there, right?" "Yeah…" "Okay, I'll see you there." He said with a smile that didn't really reach his eyes. Sayori sighed. She leaned over to Yuri, brushing her hair away from her ear, and whispered, "He really doesn't know how to take a hint, huh?" She said with a smile. Yuri nodded and smiled back, giggling a little bit. Sayori went back to looking at her presentation, but it was clear to anyone who spent more than a few seconds looking at her screen that her mind was elsewhere. 

On the way out, Yuri and Sayori walked out as they usually did. Yuri seemed somewhat dejected, however. Naturally, Sayori felt bad and decided to take on the task of making her friend feel better. She linked arms with the taller girl and walked a little faster. "Hey, do you wanna come over after school? I had a lot of fun with you yesterday, and you look kinda down." Yuri blinked in surprise, and then gave a sad smile. "Ah… Is it that obvious?" "Well, to me…" "Mm… It's nothing, I guess I'm just tired…" She sounded preoccupied, and Sayori knew this was probably a lie, but she decided not to pry. "I can come over later tonight, I just have some things I need to handle at home first." Yuri said in that same distant tone as before. Sayori held the door open for her and walked her out to the bus. "Well, alright. Bye!" She hugged her, a little tighter than usual. Yuri hugged back, and once the bus door opened, she waved a goodbye and trudged onto the bus. Sayori definitely sensed something was off with her, not sadness as she had initially thought, but worry and fear. Sayori wished she could stay with her badly, but she knew Yuri sometimes needed alone time to recover from whatever was making her feel bad as well. She wished desperately, more than anything, to just know what went through her enigmatic mind for once. Yuri was still a mystery to Sayori, one that only continued to get more and more intriguing. Sayori stared at the line of buses, looking for the one with her number on it. Once she found it, the ride home was uncomfortable enough, James trying to strike up a conversation with her and trying to get her number out of her the whole ride, while she simply said she would prefer not to give it out every time he tried to weasel it out of her. At home, she just laid on her back waiting for the text from Yuri telling her she would be over. Sayori decided to go with her better judgment and not send her a multitude of texts, just sending one that read, "hey, lmk if u r still coming over later tonite! i can order us a pizza or something, my mom isnt really ever home on weekdays! hope ur feelin ok <3". She felt her heart pound a little after she sent the message. Was it weird of her to send that heart symbol at the end? She really wanted to send over the top sappy messages to her but was afraid of coming on too strong, and more importantly, revealing her deep feelings for the other girl. Her phone pinged, and she unlocked it at the speed of light. 

One new message from Yuri. "Yes, Ill probably be over later on. Sorry if I worried you earlier, I was just stressed, thank you so much for your concern though." She pondered how to respond, when another message bubble appeared. "<33." Sayori grinned and looked at the little symbol as if it was the best thing she'd ever seen. She replied, "no problem! ur my best friend and ily, it would be dumb of me not to care about you. anyway just text me 5 minutes before or somethin". Another ping. "Ily too. :~)" Sayori smiled and rolled onto her side, rereading the messages over and over until she fell asleep, still in her uniform.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> merry christmas here's a giant chapter i wrote at 4am because i really wanted to write more


	7. ch. 7

Sayori woke up all of a sudden at 8pm. She groggily picked up her phone and saw around 50 notifs for Discord, and instantly she was alarmed. She sat up and unlocked her phone, as alert as she could be after waking up from an unexpected nap… with her contacts still in. They were all from Yuri or their group chat, because she wasn't really in any other servers. Her online social life was really, really slow, after all. Around 20 of the messages were from Yuri, just asking "Are you still up?", and "Can I call you?", however it was the last few lines that made her heart sink.

"I came to your house and you didn't answer, are you ok?"  
"I'm sorry I keep messaging you…"   
"I know it's kind of late, I'm sorry"  
"I'm guessing you're not home or you're busy or something… Call me when you wake up if you want to."

Sayori let out an exasperated sigh. Of all the days she could've fallen asleep without meaning to, it had to be the day she invited her sad best friend over after school. And of course, she was such a heavy sleeper that it didn't even matter how much Yuri rang the doorbell or messaged her, because she could sleep through nearly everything. She decided to message her back, but she still felt bad, so she decided to go pay Yuri a visit. 

She tugged on her jacket and unlocked the door. She stepped out onto her porch and stopped only to pet and hug a stray cat that visited her every once in a while, and let him in the house. Besides, she didn't have any other pets, and her mom wouldn't be home for a long time. The cat deserved to stay warm as much as anything else… She closed the door after the cat had stepped inside and walked to Yuri's house. It really was cold tonight, which only made her feel even more guilty for leaving Yuri out in the cold while she slept unaware inside. She gingerly tapped on the door. No answer. She knocked a little louder and waited. Taking out her phone, she checked if she had any notifications. No, but she just then remembered that Yuri wanted her to call once she could, so she clicked her contact picture and hit the little 'call' button. As she waited for Yuri to pick up the phone, she stood outside her door, shivering slightly, both from nervousness and coldness. Sayori worried she had messed up her friendship with Yuri, or Yuri hated her now, or maybe she finally realized that Sayori was a lazy piece of-

"Hello?" Sayori snapped out of her rapidly spiraling thoughts, and quickly said back, "Hi!! Uhm, I'm sorry I didn't let you in earlier, I fell asleep and I really don't wake up easily, I really hope you don't think I did that on purpose, or like, hate me now…" She went quiet for a second. Yuri was also silent on the other end. Sayori quickly filled the silence again. "Anyway, I'm at your front door because I wanted to see you anyway, and I felt really bad, I'm sorry." Yuri was still quiet, but she heard the front door unlock and she tugged it open. Yuri stood in front of her, her expression unreadable, which only made Sayori more recklessly nervous. Now she was gonna lose Yuri, wasn't she? She was going to drop Sayori, because no one ever wanted to hang out with someone who only ever talked on and on and forgot important things and fell asleep on them when they needed her. Yuri quietly said, "Come in, it's really cold out tonight." Sayori felt another stab of guilt when she remembered, once again, that she left Yuri outside for God knows how long, waiting for her to come to the door or answer her messages or say something. 

The two made their way to the couch, an uncharacteristic awkwardness between the two. Sayori felt a heavy, sickly feeling settle in her gut. Nothing ever felt this awkward between her and Yuri, so this must mean it was the end of the line for their friendship. She just knew it. She just knew a friendship this good couldn't last for long. No matter how bad she wanted this to be forever, nothing ever would last forever. Not for her. Sayori tried to mask her lightning-quick downward spiral as she sat on Yuri's couch beside her, hands folded in her lap. They were both quiet for a moment, before Yuri half-asked, "You must really like that James boy…" Sayori looked at her with a stunned expression. Liked him? She barely knew him, or cared for him in any sense! She didn't wanna spend any more time than she had to with him. It was always so uncomfortable, talking to him, and his monotone voice made her feel like she was listening to a text-to-speech generator. "No, I really don't like him all that much." 

Sayori thought, and tried to grasp why Yuri would ask such a thing out of nowhere, especially after what just happened between them. Yuri stared at the floor, and then looked up at Sayori with a smile that didn't quite reach her sad eyes. "It's okay, I'm not going to tell anyone if you do. If you would rather go to the dance with him next week…" She trailed off, and Sayori jumped in instantly. "No! I wanna go with you, because you're my best friend, and I really, really like you!" She stopped after realizing how that could be taken, and quickly added, "You know, since you're my friend." Yuri went quiet once again, tugging at her sleeves shyly the way Sayori had seen her do the first time they spoke. "Yuri… You're my best friend, and I really care a lot about you… I'm sorry I'm bad at showing it because sometimes I can be dumb, and I'm always tired, and I don't know how to talk well to people, but… If you think I wanna ditch you because of this James guy, you're wrong." Yuri stayed quiet, closing her eyes. She stayed like that for a minute or so, and then let out a shaky sigh. "Sayori… I'm sorry for acting strange." She didn't offer any further explanation, but Sayori could tell something was troubling her still. 

"Yuri, I promise I'd rather go with you. Really." Yuri looked over at Sayori and smiled weakly. "As long as you aren't just saying that… I don't want to come between you and anybody else." She said, but Sayori sensed something behind her words. Something pained. Sayori looked at her. "Well, you're not coming between anything! Actually, if anything, I felt really bad about James asking me because I didn't feel like going with him, but I didn't want to turn him down." Yuri was silent. Sayori hesitated at first, but wrapped her arms around Yuri and put her head on her shoulder. Yuri tensed at first, still unused to physical affection, and then relaxed and leaned into the hug. She put one long arm around Sayori's shoulder. "Thank you… Sayori." She said wearily. Sayori smiled and leaned back from the hug, looking at Yuri's face. She reached forward and brushed Yuri's bangs out of her eyes and smiled at her, leaving her hand on the tall girl's cheek. Yuri leaned slightly into her touch and looked back at her. For a moment, neither of them moved from their positions, simply gazing at each other with nothing more than gentle happiness and fondness for the other. Then, Yuri seemed to realize it might've come off strange for her to react in such a way, and leaned back, Sayori drawing her hand back in surprise as she also realized the situation. They looked at each other for a while, and then Sayori said, "Well, I'm not goin' home until later tonight, 'cause I really wanted to spend time with you today but dumb me fell asleep early!" To which Yuri quickly replied, "You're not dumb, just tired." Sayori smiled faintly. No one ever really… stopped her when she put herself down all the time. They just went with it or assumed she was joking or something… Maybe something so small didn't deserve extra attention, but she didn't care. She appreciated it. Yuri shuffled awkwardly and said, "Well… Can I show you something? As long as you promise it won't frighten you off." Sayori pondered her friend's words for a few seconds, and then replied, "As long as you didn't kill someone or something!" Yuri nodded, and led Sayori to her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh i'm super sorry for posting later than promised! i've been dealing with a lot of mental stuff lately unfortunately but i'll be alright, i keep getting writer's block because of depression and stuff but i've been writing a lot again and i'm really excited to write the next few chapters so i'm pretty sure i'll be updating regularly again!!


	8. ch. 8

Yuri pushed open the door to her room. Sayori stepped in, and was instantly taken aback. It was just so… neat! She was so used to living in a messy, disorganized room, that it surprised her to see a bedroom that looked, well, like a bedroom! "Wow… Your room is so… clean…" She said, still taking it in. Yuri giggled a little bit at her friend's reaction. "Yeah, I can't really handle being somewhere messy for a really long time. It stresses me out badly." She walked to her desk, and opened the drawer. She took out a black leather case, and put it on her bed. She looked at Sayori with a strange intensity that the other girl couldn't quite place. Yuri took a deep breath. "Okay, you can't tell anyone about this, and I really, really am trusting that you won't think I'm weird or creepy." Sayori nodded vigorously. "Of course! I could never think you're creepy, I think you're super great!" Yuri, satisfied with the reply she got, blushed and leaned over the case to unzip it. She opened it, many glittering pocket knives shining in the light of her bedroom. The deep red fabric of the interior had elastic straps holding each knife in place. Yuri carefully took out a switchblade, with a violet handle and a black, thin blade. She held the blade delicately in a way that Sayori could look at it, and gingerly said, "I… have a thing for collecting knives." Sayori looked at the switchblade with wonder, her eyes big and shiny. Sayori looked up at Yuri, smiling big. "Wow… I didn't think you could get any cooler, Yuri! That's really cool!" She said enthusiastically, switching her fascinated gaze from the knife to Yuri every so often. Yuri beamed proudly. "I'm really happy you think so…! I was afraid you would label me as a freak, or think I'm creepy…" "Nope! I've never thought that about you!"

Yuri slid the knife back into its slot, closing the case carefully and zipping it back up. She laid on her back, looking at the ceiling and still smiling a little. "Ah… Well, you're the first, I think." Sayori laid beside her, very close. Well, not close enough, for her at least. "Well, everyone who thinks you're a freak is stupid. You're really great, and I really like you… A lot." Sayori said, trying to keep her tone steady, calm, casual… friendly. Just… friendly. Trying her best not to sound like she was hopelessly, irreversibly in love with her best friend. Like she had found herself in a whirlwind of emotion and she came out a lovesick puppy on the other side. Yeah, because… that wasn't true, right? Of course not… Yuri yawned and looked at Sayori with sleepy fondness. "Thank you… You really are my best friend, I think…" Yuri said, pausing and thinking. Sayori was quiet, letting the other girl form her thoughts. "You've always been much nicer to me than anyone else has been… You're always here when I need you, you never yell at me or call me stupid when I can't speak or treat me like I'm stuck up or mean for not being good with people…" She sighed. "Sayori…" "Yeah?" "You're the best." Sayori rolled over and hugged Yuri, putting her head on her chest and closing her eyes. She heard Yuri's breath catch, and wondered if she was being weird. Then again, weren't they both weird? That's what she'd been branded her whole life… She didn't understand what she was supposed to do, how to act, or any of that, and from what Yuri had told her and how she'd seen her act, maybe she didn't either. Her worries shrunk when she felt Yuri's arms around her. She simply offered, "I'm really sleepy," as an explanation for her sudden affectionate behavior. Yuri nodded and mumbled back a "me too," a slight apologetic tone in her voice. Sayori tried her best to stay awake, in case her mom checked on her that night, but…

Sayori blinked awake and yawned big, stretching her legs outward, her bones popping and cracking. Sometimes she swore she had to be older than 17, the way her joints cracked. Still coming to her senses, she looked around, and realized she wasn't in her bed, her pajamas, her room… But she was still in her school uniform, in Yuri's room… snuggled up to Yuri. Startled, she reached over Yuri's shoulder and grabbed one of their phones, checking the time. 2am… She didn't really know how to wake Yuri up. In all honesty, she was too comfortable to get up, so she put the phone back down and settled against the other girl again. Her eyes burned and her mouth was dry, but she felt so… tired… Yuri yawned and adjusted herself slightly. Sayori knew she had to wake her up and walk home, because her mom would be home by the morning. She really, really didn't want to introduce Yuri to her mom, simply because her family situation was one she never felt up to discussing. Then again, she didn't know much about Yuri's family either… "Yuri…" Sayori mumbled. No reaction, of course. "Um, Yuri, wake up… We fell asleep." She said, louder this time. Yuri didn't react, yet again. Not wanting to pull herself out of Yuri's arms quite yet, Sayori adjusted herself so she wasn't lying completely against her and poked her nose. "Yuuuuuriiiii…" Yuri yawned lightly and stretched out a little. Sayori shook her a little, nudged her shoulder, then her side. Yuri gasped a little and sat up suddenly. "Wha-" She looked around with wide, wide eyes. Her pupils seemed like pinpricks, and then she looked at Sayori. "Oh… It's just you. Haha, sorry…" She then seemed anxious again at once. "Wait- What time is it?" "2am. I really, really gotta get home before 6…" Yuri seemed slightly disappointed, but nodded. "It gets really cold out at night though… And it's dangerous, would you like me to come with you?" She said, reaching down to her knife case and unzipping it once again. She tugged out a large, iridescent pocket knife with a long blade. Sayori nodded. "Yeah, please…" Yuri jumped off the bed and walked to her closet, sliding the door open and taking out a big jacket. Without saying another word, she wrapped it around Sayori's shoulders and opened her door. Sayori got up, taking her phone and sliding it into the jacket's pocket, and began walking out.

On the way out of the front door, Yuri took Sayori's hand in her own. Sayori looked up at her and smiled. Yuri shyly stammered, "Uh, just… To be safe, you know." Sayori nodded. "Yep… Safety first!" She said. While they walked, Sayori skipped a little, swinging her and Yuri's linked arms slightly. The two got to Sayori's door. Yuri walked a little behind Sayori on the way to her door, lingering on her doorstep while Sayori unlocked the door. She swung it open and turned to Yuri. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow Yuri!" She said in a rather sing-songy tone. She leaned in and hugged Yuri tightly, Yuri not hesitating to hug her back this time. They stood like that for a minute or so, before separating and waving goodbye. Sayori went to her room and laid in bed, looking at her phone screen. She texted Yuri many "GOODNIGHT!!!" texts, with many heart and smiling emojis following her message, along with wishes for Yuri to have a great day and sleep well. Yuri texted her back again, heart emojis and a 'goodnight! sweet dreams' message afterwards. Sayori changed into her pajamas and realized that she had kept Yuri's jacket. She decided to tell her tomorrow. Before getting into bed, she pulled the jacket on and fell asleep in it, thinking of how great Yuri was, how happy she was, and how excited she was for the dance this coming week.


	9. ch. 9

The next day felt like it was just going to be a bad mental health day for Sayori. Nothing particular had happened, but she did have those kinds of days. She woke up already in a bad mood, and it only stressed her further when she realized she had no reason to have these shitty feelings. She rolled onto her back and grabbed her phone from beside her pillow, clicking the home button and scrolling through her notifications. She shot Yuri a good morning message, and another one to her group chat. She rolled back onto her side again, slightly satisfied when she realized the sun hadn't come up yet. It was 5am, so maybe today would be saved. Sometimes, she did wake up in the middle of the night panicking, or crying, or just in a sour mood. Hell, a few times she woke up in the afternoon, feeling sick and full of bad, scary thoughts. Of course she knew she needed some sort of help with this, but her guilt overtook any desire to seek help. She didn't have the money for a therapist, and she couldn't just burden her friends with this… especially Yuri. Yuri couldn't see this side of her, because it would scare her off, and Yuri had become like her sunshine on a rainy day. No matter what, she always brightened her day. But Sayori really, really wanted to go back to bed now. Without caring much about how she would most likely wake up late, she shifted into a more comfortable position, and drifted off to sleep once more. 

The next time she woke up, it was 10 minutes before school. Her mom had sent her a text saying "U better be on time for school today, im not dealing with truancy." Sayori huffed and ignored the text, instead switching to Discord and looking at her group chat messages. She sat up and walked downstairs while scrolling through the enormous amount of messages her friends had sent in the hour they had been awake. She grabbed her bag from the couch, walked to the kitchen, and took a bottled ice coffee out of the fridge. It was the cheap kind, but she didn't mind, because she liked it anyway. Sayori dropped her bag by the door, popped the coffee open, and took a big chug. She walked up the stairs again, took another gulp of her coffee, and got dressed. Before leaving, she drank the rest of the coffee from the little glass bottle, and tossed it into the trash can. Sayori lifted her bag onto her shoulder with great effort, put her phone into her blazer pocket, and started running to the bus stop as fast as she could without tripping under the weight of her backpack. 

On the bus, James kept trying to talk to her again. She obviously wasn't in the mood, and it irritated her that he didn't catch on to that. That one side of her that she always kept buried kept pushing her to be rude to him, to tell him to fuck off and leave her alone. Instead, she simply looked at him with uncharacteristically blank eyes and said, "Sorry, I'm really tired right now… I don't feel like talking." He looked about to say something, but stopped, and simply sat on the bus. She took her phone out again and kept reading messages from her three friends. The cynical part of her told her they didn't even acknowledge her good morning message, that they didn't care about her, that she was just a big annoyance to her. God, she wished she had the same bus as Yuri. Not only did she want to get away from James and the awkward vibes he always carried with him, but she just wanted to be around Yuri. Not that she really fed into the thoughts that her friends hated her, but at least if she and Yuri were talking, it would disprove those thoughts, and get them to shut up. It was frustrating, but she would just have to deal with it. Just another one of those days.

She muddled through her first two blocks, and on the way to lunch, contemplated just sitting on the little bench in the girls' bathroom like she did for the first half of this semester. Part of her wanted to do this as a 'test' of sorts, to see if her friends would come looking for her or send her a message asking where she was. However, her better judgment told her that she always did get in a better mood after she hung out with her friends. Hell, sometimes when she felt a mood drop coming on, she would just text Yuri and she would feel too elated to acknowledge her bad thoughts. So maybe this would be what she needed to make today better. 

She sat down beside Yuri as usual, giving a slightly less enthusiastic than usual greeting. After a few minutes of the usual discussion, everyone else seemed to be catching on to Sayori's unusual silence. Yuri was the first. She went silent as well, simply stealing glances at Sayori, her eyes full of concern and sadness. Natsuki and Monika's conversation died off as well, both of them just exchanging glances. Natsuki was the first to speak up. "Uh… Hey, Sayori, are you alright?" Sayori looked up, thought about what she could say for a second, and then nodded. "Yeah… I guess I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed…" She didn't offer any further explanation, only because she didn't want them to think she was crazy or anything. Natsuki nodded back, and said, "Well, if you need anything, we're all here for you." Yuri looked up and nodded, giving Sayori a sad smile. Sayori would be lying if she said that her heart didn't melt a little when she looked at her, and she would be lying if she said she didn't appreciate her friends. She smiled back at both of them and said, "Thanks…" Monika looked up from her food. "So, any news on James?" She asked. Sayori wrinkled her nose a little. "Not really, he wouldn't leave me alone today on the bus even though it was obvious I was half-asleep." Monika made a fake gagging sound. "Gross." Yuri looked up again, this time with sudden intensity. "I'll kill him." She said, sounding dead serious. The other three girls looked at her in surprise. She blinked and then chuckled. "Kidding! I'm kidding." Sayori laughed and put her arm around Yuri. "Thank you… No killing will be necessary, I'm just going to ignore him and hope he eventually takes the hint." 

Sayori stopped Yuri after lunch. "Hey, Yuri? I really don't wanna go to English today, James is really getting on my nerves today and I…" She hesitated. "I'm just having a really bad mental health day, so I don't wanna really deal with it. Is it okay for you if I skip today?" Yuri seemed like a deer in the headlights, and Sayori instantly felt guilty for it. Yuri nodded. "It's fine, I'll miss you, but we can meet up after class… Right?" Sayori nodded. "Yep! Of course, and I'll miss you too! It's only for an hour and a half, though, so it won't be super long… I just wanted you to know so you don't, you know, get worried or anything." Yuri nodded once again, and hugged Sayori suddenly. "Thank you for letting me know." Sayori hugged back, a little stunned. Yuri never really initiated hugs and things of that sort… She smiled a little to herself. This must mean that she was really special to her, huh?

While Sayori was hiding out in the bathroom, James sat in her usual spot beside Yuri. Involuntarily, Yuri grimaced. What was he doing beside her? She knew that he didn't really like her all that much. Besides, the awkwardness he always carried with him and Yuri's flawed social skills tended to mix and make the whole situation… well, two times as awkward. James looked over at her as she furiously typed away at her presentation. At this point, she mainly was typing up notes for her to read from her laptop while she presented, since she couldn't really pull things off the top of her head during presentations. Reading out loud was one thing. Presenting while everyone stared and whispered and laughed was another. Her mind would be racing, panicking, so the last thing she needed was to blank on what she needed to say and what points she needed to address further. She ignored him for a while, but it began to distract her, how he was basically staring at her screen and leaning over her shoulder. So, in a monotone, she said, "What." He looked over at her. "I need your help." He said. She turned to face him and looked at him quizzically. "With what?" Yuri asked. James sighed. "You and Sayori are really good friends, right? Well, I have a thing for her. I have since last year, but she never really noticed me. I've been trying to talk to her, and I asked her to that dance with me, but I don't know what to do about it." Yuri tensed. Did he have the nerve to ask her this? Honestly? She glared at him, in silence. James sighed in frustration. "Nevermind, I guess." He went back to typing on his own presentation, while Yuri just stared holes in her laptop screen. She suddenly turned to look at him. "Listen. I don't think she's interested. Maybe it's just not meant to be." She said. Both of them were surprised. Yuri usually never had this kind of boldness… But when it came to Sayori, things felt different.

Neither of the girls hesitated to meet up outside of the English class right after the bell rang. Sayori rushed over to Yuri and nearly knocked her over in a hug. "Hi! How was class?" Yuri tried to smile, but it turned out as more of a wince. "It was… Okay." She said hesitantly. "Huh. That doesn't sound very convincing… Is it because I skipped?" Sayori asked, looking up at Yuri with concern. Yuri shook her head, so fast that her bangs got a little messier than usual. "No! No, it's not your fault, Sayori… It's not. James asked me about you." She said, then flinched. Sayori blinked in surprise, and then linked arms with Yuri and started walking down the hall. Yuri followed in a heavy silence, staring at the ground and frowning. "What did he say?" She asked. Yuri was quiet for a minute or two, and then she quietly muttered, "He asked me about you going to the dance." Sayori looked at her and tilted her head. "What'd you say?" "I said… I said you were going. That's all." "Hm… Well, I'm sorry he bothered you." She said and frowned. Why was James asking Yuri about that? Couldn't he just ask her to her face? Yuri stopped walking, and it took Sayori a few seconds to realize she was walking by herself. She turned around to face Yuri and walked over to her. 

"Is everything okay?" Sayori asked quietly. Yuri shook her head silently, crossing her arms and avoiding eye contact. "I'm a bad friend." "What? No, you're not… You're a great friend, Yuri!" "No… You felt bad today, and it's probably because of me." Sayori gasped a little and then shook her head. "No! Yuri, listen… I'm upset because of myself. You didn't do anything wrong, what do you even think you did?" Yuri took a few deep breaths, and then sighed. "I don't know, I just kept thinking that because you were mad… I don't know, I'm sorry…" Sayori leaned in and hugged her again. "Well… Don't think like that, and you don't have anything to be sorry for, you know… If anything, seeing you was the highlight of my day." Yuri let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, I'm really sorry… Thank you…" Sayori looked up at her. "Do you wanna come over after school? I promise I won't fall asleep again." "Okay…" Sayori smiled at her, and Yuri smiled back. "Maybe we can even go out to the cafe around the corner again?" Yuri nodded. "Well, I'll see you then… Goodbye, Sayori." She walked outside to her bus. 

After school, Sayori and Yuri did end up going to the same cafe as before. They talked and laughed until a half hour before closing time. On the way home, they walked home together as usual, and Sayori remembered Yuri's jacket. "Hey, Yuri… I accidentally took your jacket the other day, so do you want it back?" Yuri nodded. "Yes, thank you…!" Sayori ran up the stairs while Yuri stood on her porch. She grabbed the jacket from her chair in her room, then hugged it tightly. She walked down the stairs again and handed Yuri the jacket. "Byebye, I'll see you tomorrow!" She said cheerfully, and they hugged again. Yuri walked off to her house and Sayori watched her go, since it was getting dark and she didn't want her to get hurt. That night, she didn't sleep well, only because she was worried about James getting in between her and Yuri. It was a little funny to her, how Yuri was worried about getting in between her and James, when Sayori was more concerned about James, or anyone for that matter, getting in between her and Yuri. Eventually, she fell into a troubled sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope this turned out good its 5am and im in a writing mood and im so energetic


	10. ch.10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im just going to go ahead and accept that my best writing happens at 5am

The next week passed without much incident. Sayori and Yuri talked as usual, hung out, laughed, and spent as much time as they could together. James seemed to grow increasingly more desperate for Sayori's attention, but Sayori was still oblivious to him. Yuri, however, was starting to dislike him. Maybe even hate him. He frustrated her beyond belief. She glared at him all throughout 4th block, while he simply stared at Sayori or tried to talk to her. At one point, he even tried to get Sayori to walk outside with him instead of Yuri after class, but Sayori politely rejected him. 

The dance was tomorrow, and Sayori was excited. She didn't know what to wear, what to bring, what time to go, and many other things that were obviously important, but she hadn't thought to bring up before now. She had just been so excited to be included for once that she didn't think of important details. Unfortunately, that was probably why people stopped inviting her to things and talking to her: she always forgot big details, or important dates, and it came off like she didn't care. She forgot her mom's birthday once, and her mom called her names and yelled at her and told her if she really cared, she would've remembered. Sayori didn't understand, but she simply accepted the fact that people would always be angry at her if she forgot stuff for that, so she was pretty hesitant to ask Yuri for the details. The last thing she wanted was for Yuri to think she didn't care about her. 

Despite this, she trusted Yuri. She knew that Yuri wasn't the kind of person to yell at her or call her names for forgetting stuff. Something told her that Yuri would understand. After all, Yuri had always been kind and understanding to her, so why would this change anything? Yet, as she expected, she was still paranoid. She texted Yuri instead of calling her, simply because it was always easier for her to type than it was for her to talk. Yuri told her the dates, and told her she thought she would look good in anything. Besides, it was a semi-formal, no need to go all out, so Sayori decided to just wear a nice top and some dress pants. Excited, she started laying out her clothes for the dance early. She never really was the kind of person to prepare for things early, but it really couldn't hurt to prepare once in a while! Proud of herself, she changed into her pajamas early and sat in bed, watching TV and texting her friends. Her mom had left her a text saying dinner was in the fridge, so she went downstairs and microwaved what her mom had left her and sat on the couch eating it. Yuri and Sayori had been texting all night, talking about the dance the next day excitedly. They both were looking forward to it, obviously. Sayori said goodnight early, and decided to sleep at 11pm so she could wake up on time, maybe a little earlier.

The next morning, she showered, taking a little extra time to condition her hair and make sure she didn't leave any shampoo in it. She washed her face in the sink and brushed her teeth, and went through her usual morning routine. After she was done brushing and blow-drying her hair, she decided to try putting on a minimal amount of makeup. Nothing too special, just cover up. She decided she looked good, and she would fix herself more after school because she always ended up looking frazzled by the end of the day. On the bus, as usual, James tried to get her attention. Today, however, he seemed much more on edge. He grabbed her phone from her hands and looked at her. "Can't you put this thing down for 5 minutes?" Agitated, Sayori quipped, "Who do you think you are?" James stared at her, then at the phone in his hands, and sighed. "Sorry. I just feel like you're ignoring me." He said, and gave her the phone back. She took it and held it close to her chest, staring at him with all the trust of a feral cat. "Well, that's no way to deal with it… That was really rude." She said unhappily. "Are you still going to the dance tonight?" He asked suddenly. She blinked, and then nodded. "Yeah." he nodded back, and was silent the rest of the way to school. 

Once she got to school and got through her first two periods, she practically ran through the halls to get to the lunchroom. She slid into her seat beside Yuri and smiled big. "Hi, Yuri! Are we still going tonight?" She asked excitedly. Yuri smiled at her. "Yep! I mean… As long as you still want to go?" Sayori quickly responded, "Of course! I wouldn't miss it for the world." While the pair spoke, Monika and Natsuki exchanged knowing glances. Natsuki looked over at the other two girls. "Hey, how about you two meet me and Monika outside first, okay? You know, to make sure that weird dude from your last block doesn't show up and try to get with Sayori." Monika nodded. "Yeah, Sayori, I think he's gonna be there, and he's probably going to try to dance with you or something." She said, wrinkling her nose in mostly fake disgust. The three laughed, while Yuri simply forced a smile. 

Once lunch and fourth block were over, Sayori and Yuri walked out together, before James had the chance to catch up to them. They stood outside together, talking about the dance once again. "So, Yuri, do you have an outfit picked out yet?" Sayori asked. Yuri smiled and nodded. "I picked out something special for the occasion… Usually I don't really like going out places like this, it's just too much for me… But… I thought it would be fun. Especially with you, Sayori…" She trailed off and glanced at Sayori. Sayori looked back at her, and realized she looked… sad. "Yuri? Are you alright?" She asked, getting a little closer to her friend. Yuri nodded wordlessly. "Yes, I'm fine… You know, if you do want to spend time with that boy… I don't mind." Yuri said. Sayori couldn't tell how she felt about that from her tone or her expression anymore. It was as if Yuri had closed herself off completely, in that split second. Sayori furrowed her eyebrows and frowned. "I really don't… I wanna spend my time with you! I mean it." Yuri opened her mouth to say something, but the bus driver started yelling for the kids from her bus to hurry up. Yuri turned to look at Sayori, and then gave a small wave. She ran to the bus and Sayori yelled after her, "See you tonight!" 

Once at home, she knew she would have enough time to prepare. The dance was at 8pm, and it was only 3:30. She made herself a cup of microwave mac and cheese, and went upstairs to go shower again, just to be safe. Sayori set all of her clothes on her bed, making sure they were spotless and looked as close to perfect as possible. She sat on her bed, clicking the TV on, and ate her macaroni. She leaned back against her numerous pillows and thought about how the night would unfold. She didn't understand why Yuri kept pushing that she would want to spend time with James instead. Maybe, Sayori thought, Yuri didn't feel like Sayori liked her? That couldn't be possible, because Sayori was painfully obvious when she liked someone, romantically or otherwise. It was hard for her to hide her true feelings about anyone, let alone someone she spent half her time with. That was another thing -- time. Sayori never spent time with anyone she didn't feel like being around. People just drained her, so why would she go out of her way to spend time with someone who frustrated her or put her in a bad mood? She didn't really understand, but she made a vow to prove to Yuri how much she really cared about her. Well, without giving away her… true feelings. At least, not yet. She knew eventually she was either going to have to wait these feelings out -- which seemed impossible, with how strong they were -- or confess to Yuri and deal with whatever reaction she had. 

She tossed her empty cup into the trash, and showered. She hummed to herself as she washed her hair, and made sure to condition it once again. Sayori didn't really care if that was good for her hair or anything, she simply wanted to look her very best for the night. In all honesty, she hoped Yuri would comment on her appearance, or how much effort she was putting into it. Yuri's opinion mattered the most to her, truthfully. She stepped out of the shower and dried her hair out with the towel, washed her face off with warm water, and went to her room. She sat in her bed watching TV for a while. Once she realized she got sidetracked, she panicked a little, until she realized it was only 4pm. No need to worry yet, she thought. There were still four hours until the dance. Besides, her mom wouldn't even be home until the next morning, because today was Friday and she wouldn't usually work or hang out with her boyfriend on Saturdays. Sayori got dressed, and dried her hair. She made sure that she looked her best, and then decided to sit in bed and wait until about a half hour until she had to leave. She took out her laptop and logged into Discord and her other social sites, scrolling and talking in the server for a few hours. While she talked with her friends about everything, serious and stupid, she couldn't help but smile. This semester really took a last second turn, that changed everything. All she knew was that tonight was going to be the best night of her life so far, no exaggeration. Up until this point, she really never had a true friend group or a real crush, and she'd never gone to any big events. She knew that this night was gonna be good. She was going to make tonight good.


	11. ch.11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this ones kinda short! i couldnt decide whether to leave it with the next chapter or not, and i decided it would be better to split them up for the effect

Finally, the night of the dance had arrived. Sayori had shown up to the school early. She stood outside, pulling her jacket around her tightly. While she definitely didn't want to arrive late, she wished she would've waited a while before showing up 10 minutes early. Not only did she feel awkward just standing outside while waiting for her friends, but she really, really didn't want to run into James and have him think that she showed up for him. Sayori checked her phone constantly, sending a few texts along the lines of "im here, can u guys msg me when ur almost here?" 

As she looked up from her phone, she came face to face with James. Much to her chagrin, he was standing there, dressed up, and staring right at her with the same blank expression he always carried. "Hey." He said. "I didn't think you would show up for me." Sayori winced. "Um, I did say I was going to be here, but I didn't show up for you." She said, trying to sound as polite as possible. James took her hand, and she recoiled and put her hand in her jacket pocket. He sighed and looked at her. "Well, let's go in." He said, sounding somewhat bitter from the rejection. She thought about it for a second, and then reluctantly followed him inside. She was freezing outside, even in her jacket. Besides, Yuri, Natsuki, and Monika would be here soon, right? It's not like she was going to actually spend the entirety of the dance with James. She would just hang around him until the other three girls got to the dance, and then have the time of her life. In fact, she thought about it the night before, and she wanted to ask Yuri to be her girlfriend. Not in front of the other girls, really, but… She didn't know how it would play out. After all, Sayori really wasn't the planning type. Otherwise she wouldn't have showed up early and ended up coming inside with James of all people. 

Sayori stayed closed to the door, but made sure she was mindful of people coming in and out. She didn't want to block anyone, so she was leaning against the wall next to the entrance. Upon taking out her phone, she realized one crucial thing she had forgotten to do tonight - charge it. It was on 1%, so she would just have to try not to use it. While this bothered her a little, she wouldn't let it ruin her night. She just stood by the door, waiting for her friends to enter. Rushing, she send a message to her friends' server telling them she was right by the door inside, and that her phone was about to die. She sent it and put the phone in her pocket. Sayori kept leaning against the wall, arms crossed, waiting for her friends still. She closed her eyes and sighed a little. This night had started off stressful. James was standing right beside her. She could basically feel him hovering right over her. He suddenly took her by the hand again, and walked away from the door. "Hey, I'm trying to wait for my friends, you know." She said, her efforts to be polite fading. "Well, we came here together, so I want to spend time with you. Sayori… I want you to be my girlfriend." "...What?" Sayori stared at him in stunned silence. "You barely know me. We've never spoken aside from you trying to make small talk with me on the bus." She didn't know what to say. "Yeah, but I wanna get to know you, so that's why I wanna date you." He leaned against her, hugging her tightly. She felt awkward, and didn't know what else to do. She simply stood there, wondering when this guy would detach himself from her. 

Meanwhile, Monika, Natsuki, and Yuri had arrived. Not only had they shown up, but they showed up just in time to see Sayori and James hugging. Yuri stood in silence. Natsuki looked up at her, then at James and Sayori. "Damn… Didn't she say she didn't like him?" She said. She then looked up at Yuri. "Well, guess that answers your question." Monika elbowed Natsuki, who made a little 'oof' sound. Yuri took a few deep breaths. "It's fine. I want her to be h… I want her to be happy." She said. As soon as the words left her mouth, she turned to the door and leaned against it for a few seconds, bowing her head. Monika put her hand on Yuri's back. "Hey, it's okay…" She trailed off as Yuri choked back a sob. She turned to look at Sayori. "I… I wanna see her." Before either of the other two girls could stop her, Yuri walked over to Sayori and James. "Hi, Sayori…" Yuri said quietly. Sayori looked over at her with wide eyes. "Yuri! You're here." James let go of Sayori and glared at Yuri smugly. Yuri lowered her head meekly. "Um, yeah… I'm sorry. I… I hope you have a nice night, Sayori… I…" She took a shaky breath in, and then just shook her head and turned to leave. 

Sayori looked after her with widening eyes. James leaned in to hold her again, but this time she shoved him back. "God, when will you learn to take a hint?" She snapped, following after Yuri, who had run out into the hallway. Monika and Natsuki stared after them. Monika sighed. "They'll be back. Do you wanna go get some punch?" She asked wearily. Natsuki nodded. "Yeah. It's gonna be a long night." She said, crossing her arms.


	12. ch. 12

Yuri hid in the girls' bathroom, far from the gym where the dance was being held. Alone, in a corner beside the sink, she couldn't hold herself together anymore. She sat with her knees up to her chest, trying her best to cry as quietly as she could. She felt like a complete fool. How could she have thought that Sayori would want to be with her tonight? She was a freak, and Sayori would've found someone better in the future. If not now, it would've been later. She was dizzy from how hard she was crying, her head hurt, the makeup she applied was now smeared in raccoon circles around her eyes. She didn't even care at this point, because this was the worst case scenario. She knew she was going to have to go home sooner or later, but for now, hiding in the bathroom was all she wanted to do.

Meanwhile, Sayori was running through the halls, searching for where Yuri could be. She looked in empty classrooms, behind lockers, and eventually started looking through each girls' bathroom. She started, obviously, with the ones closest to the gym. When she couldn't find Yuri, or anyone for that matter, she decided to check the bathroom that was all the way across the school. She felt that it was a long shot, but knowing Yuri, maybe that's where Sayori should've checked in the first place. She walked to the bathroom, and pushed the door open. Hesitantly, she stepped in. She heard the sound of someone inhaling sharply. She paused, nervous, and then murmured, "Yuri…?" 

She walked into the bathroom and saw Yuri huddled against the wall, sitting in the small side room with the bench. The one that Sayori had hidden in, time and time again, during lunch block. "Yuri, are you okay?" Sayori asked, rushing over to her. Yuri tried to respond, but she couldn't speak. All that came out was quiet sobs. She hid her face with her hands. Sayori walked over to her and sat beside her. She put an arm around the taller girl's shoulders, laying her head on her shoulder. "I… I'm sorry. About what just happened…" Yuri couldn't respond. She simply shook her head, and Sayori got scared. She didn't know what that meant. "I- Yuri, I was telling the truth when I said I wanted to be with you. But… He doesn't know how to take a damn hint. I got him to let me inside because I was cold, my phone died, and then he suddenly started telling me he wanted me to be his girlfriend and hugged me, and I didn't know what to say yet. Of course I wouldn't say yes, but I was just… shocked." Yuri was silent, aside from sniffling. Sayori didn't say anything else, simply running her hand through Yuri's hair. Yuri looked up at her, wiping at her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm selfish, and if you want to be with him, you can. I… I shouldn't be upset about you finding love, just because I wish that I could be in his place instead…" Both of them seemed to freeze at that. Yuri slunk back more, hiding her face in her hands and simply mumbling, "No, no, no…" over and over to herself. Sayori looked at Yuri. "Do… Do you want to… Are you saying that you want me to be your girlfriend?" Yuri looked up at her with a deer-in-the-headlights look. "I… I'm sorry!" She jumped up and rushed out of the bathroom. Sayori sat in stunned silence. Her heart pounded. Her stomach fluttered. Did Yuri just confess to her? 

Sayori went back to running after Yuri, trying to find her. She ended up quite literally running into her, because Yuri was simply standing by some water fountains splashing her face with water, when Sayori smacked into her. Both of them fell back from the impact, and Yuri looked at Sayori with fear. It reminded Sayori of the day they first met, when she could see how anxious Yuri was around new people, only this time it saddened her. This was… her best friend. No, more than that… Sayori sat down in front of Yuri, and said, "I wanna date you too." Both of them were quiet for a second. Yuri's face was bright red, and she didn't seem to react much at first. Then, she stood up, taking Sayori's hand and pulling her up too. "You aren't… You're not kidding, are you?" Yuri asked. Sayori shook her head vehemently. "No, I've had a crush on you for a really long time now. I've always thought you were really pretty, and cute, and nice, and… I really love you." Yuri laughed a little, and then shook her head. "This is… This isn't a dream." She whispered, half to herself. Then, she hugged Sayori tight and kissed her suddenly. Sayori returned the kiss, feeling like she was living a dream too. They separated and looked at each other, neither able to stop smiling. "I… I love you so much." Yuri whispered, tears running down her face again. Sayori wiped her tears away, and said, "I love you too!" She took Yuri's hand and walked back to the gym.

Once back, James ran over to Sayori. "So? Are we a thing?" Sayori sighed. "No, sorry. I'm taken now." She said, squeezing Yuri's hand a little and smiling at her. Yuri smiled back, looking shyly at the floor. James huffed, and walked off without another word. Once he was out of earshot, Sayori looked at Yuri and stuck her tongue out. "He's so obnoxious…" "Yeah…" Monika and Natsuki walked over to the two. "Soo… What happened?" Natsuki asked. "Are you two dating now?" Monika nudged her again, and this time she shoved Monika back. "Fuck off… I'm just asking a question." She grumbled. Monika looked at Yuri, and smiled. "I told you she liked you too." She said, winking. Yuri blushed and rolled her eyes. Sayori kissed Yuri on the cheek. The two of them spent the rest of the night together, with their two best friends, having the time of their lives. Maybe, Sayori thought, things really did work out in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow i cant believe this story is almost finished.. end of an era.. im definitely going to write more ddlc stuff after this of course! this was super fun to write and im also always taking sayori x yuri prompts because i cant really come up w a bunch of stuff all the time and im pretty sure all of yall have great ideas too! >__0 ~*  
> also im uploading this at 6:30 in the morning im dying


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